The research shows it.
So will the look on people’s faces just a few short weeks from now.
But it’s nothing you haven’t heard before. News flash: New Year’s resolutions are difficult to keep. Studies have demonstrated that one third of resolutions are out the window by the end of January and, by July, half have become a thing of the past.
Still, can anything be done about it? At Davis Advertising, we’re asking ourselves a question – an entirely theoretical question perhaps, but one that hopefully provides some insights into our work here and maybe, just maybe, gives a few of us a boost during resolution time.
The idea is this: What if we could put our advertising strength and creativity towards our own New Year’s resolutions? How might we “sell” ourselves on keeping our resolutions? What would those ad campaigns look, sound or “feel” like, and via what media would they be presented to us?
Note: The identities of these resolvers have been kept secret. After all, with a failure rate of more than 50 percent in less than six months, resolutions are, well, best kept private.
Davis Creative Copywriter #1
Davis Blogger (DB): What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Davis Creative Copywriter #1: I want to get a proper hobby. I tend to jump around from one hobby to another. Maybe I’ll join an improv group or start a blog and stick to it. Or maybe I’ll learn to play the ukulele.
DB: What if it was playing the ukulele? What would the ad campaign for that look like?
Davis Creative Copywriter #1: It would run during my favorite TV shows – Game of Thrones, The New Girl, Project Runway – and probably have signage at bus stops and the T. It would be motivational in a way where I would be able to think about the future. It could be playing some truly excellent ukulele, wearing really cool clothes… People would be watching me play and they’d be really into it.
The ads could basically say, “This is you in five years if you stick with it.”
A Davis Digital Strategy Team Member
DB: What’s your New Year’s resolution?
A Davis Digital Strategy Team Member: I want to get in shape.
DB: What would your personalized ad campaign look like?
A Davis Digital Strategy Team Member: It would be a social media campaign to try to keep people engaged with me, so that I get added support from my friends and family. I could get constant feedback on what I’m doing. Videos of my exercise routine could be posted on Facebook and YouTube and it could be tweeted about as well. And if I needed some moral support, there could even be some pleas for help on Facebook and Twitter.
Davis Creative Copywriter #2
DB: What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Davis Creative Copywriter #2: My budget is on my mind. I definitely not an outlandish (copywriter’s salary and all, he-he), but I don’t exactly think things out either. My resolution is to get a grasp on all my necessary monthly expenses and also set aside some money for fun and entertainment, and then put aside the rest for savings. The idea is to be goal-oriented: money for a new car, money for snowboarding, maybe a trip next summer. But also to have money saved up for those just-in-case moments. You never know what’s going to happen.
DB: How would you describe this radio ad campaign?
Davis Creative Copywriter #2: I’m thinking the morning commute. Radio spots when I’m driving to work. My mind is probably mostengaged then, coffee in hand… Maybe the word is open or open-minded. At 8 a.m. I’m open to new ideas. I’m hopeful. I’m ready to take on the world. Or maybe I’m just ready for a good brainwashing.
DB: Can you describe this radio ad campaign?
Davis Creative Copywriter #2: I’m thinking something music related. Each morning a different style of music under a musically-related campaign slogan – “composing your savings”?
The music starts out sparse and grows busier and livelier as the ad progresses while a voiceover talks about the different ways I can build up my savings. The voiceover and the music end with a flourish of inspiration.
So there you have it – a few self-directed advertising campaigns for self-imposed New Year’s resolutions. Like all the other resolvers out there, we need all the help we can get.
Still, the news isn’t all bad. While research shows that resolutions are difficult to keep, it’s also true that they are a better self-help strategy than, well, having no strategy at all. So says the New York Times anyway.
“Whatever you hope for this year — to lose weight, to exercise more, to spend less money — you’re much more likely to make improvements than someone who hasn’t made a formal resolution,” the Times reported last year, adding, “If you can make it through the rest of January, you have a good chance of lasting a lot longer.”
So if you’ve made a resolution, maybe give some self-advertising a try. Imagine what an ad campaign geared towards you would look like and then set that campaign in virtual motion. Like the resolution itself, it might not work – but what if it does?
